Marc and Hannah have the ability to engage people in deep conversations really quickly. What might take weeks, months and even years happens within a few days. -Alice P
Frontier Retreat is organized by Hannah du Plessis and Marc Rettig, principals of Fit Associates, a Pittsburgh-based consultancy that has helped large and small organizations shift their team cultures to create meaningful change across differences. Clients they’ve helped include: The Humane Society, John Snow Inc., Honeywell, Nissan, and Bose, among many others.
Marc and Hannah also serve as founding faculty members of the Masters in Design for Social Innovation program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. They teach “Co-Designing for Social Innovation” at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design
Meet Marc
2017 Attendee
Marc puts everyone at ease. He greets you with a cocktail, prepares the most incredible meal or experience activity and makes it look effortless. He’s done so many things, knows so many things, relevant to anything you’d ask about. He brings a wealth of experience in business and innovation. -Jesse S
I grew up on a wheat farm in Montana. Though I’ve lived most of my adult life in cities, I know that life on the prairie shaped me. Long days on a slow tractor taught me what if feels like to stay in the seat, keep plowing, and eventually see the big thing accomplished. And the constant presence of a sixty-mile horizon internalized a kind of personal spaciousness.
In hosting this retreat, I draw from the experience of my own personal frontier-crossings. First, when I left a secure fifteen-year career in software to pursue design–a field in which I had no expertise or reputation. Fifteen years further on, I turned away from purely corporate work to seek projects driven by social rather than business questions.
If you’d like to talk to me about how the Frontier Retreat can serve you, let’s schedule a quick chat.
Meet Hannah
Working with Hannah helped me move into a new stage of life where I am able to sit in uncertainty and access the process of becoming and also accepting myself as enough — in a completely radical, transformative way. -Erika J
I grew up in apartheid South Africa. As a young person, I internalized a cultural habit of creating relationships that looked harmonious, but avoided looking at the pain, discomfort or disconnection underneath.
In my early thirties I appeared to be living a dream life. I co-owned an award-winning interior design and architecture firm, married a handsome man, and lived in a hip house. Yet I felt empty. So I did the unthinkable, and uprooted myself. I ended my marriage and the business. I left South Africa and moved to America. I disentangled myself from my family, my native language, and homeland. I allowed myself to feel alone for the first time.
I’ve discovered a frontier where I hold space for others to feel supported to turn toward work that is truly life-giving. Today my work blends design, personal development and the arts to equip people to become the change they seek.
I’ve stepped onto the stage as presenter, actor, improviser and dancer — even though I’m an introvert. My life experiences led me to give a TEDx talk about three skills we need for transformation.
If you’d like to talk to me about how the Frontier Retreat can encourage you to realize the life-giving opportunities hidden within you, let’s set up a chat.